Abigail Williams

Abigail Williams (12 July 1680-unknown) was a Puritan girl from Salem, Massachusetts who was the central accuser in the Salem Witch Trials. She accused many townspeople to settle scores with them, and she was backed by the girls of the town; when she accused Reverend Samuel Hale's wife of being a witch, she lost credibility and fled to Boston with 32 pounds and became a prostitute.

Biography
Abigail Williams was born on 12 July 1680 in Salem, Massachusetts, the niece of Reverend Samuel Parris. Her parents were killed before her eyes by Native Americans, and she was raised by Parris with his slave Tituba and his daughter Betty Parris. Abigail was sent as an indentured servant to John Proctor and Elizabeth Proctor for a time, but Elizabeth dismissed her after she discovered her adultery with John; Abigail held a grudge against Elizabeth and lusted for John. Abigail, Betty, and other girls from the town partook in rituals performed by Tituba, including dancing rituals in the forest, and one day in 1692 she drank a chicken's blood and wished that Elizabeth Proctor would die so that John would love her again. When Reverend Parris found Betty unable to wake up, the Devil's hand was suspected, and Abigail told him that Tituba's ritual had made Betty sick. She later claimed that she saw Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good with the Devil, leading to trials presided over by Parris and Reverend Samuel Hale of Beverly. While Osborne admitted that she was a witch, Good refused to call herself a witch and would be hanged. Abigail made several accusations, as did the other girls, leading to the people either proclaiming their innocence and being hanged, or they would "confess" to being witches and filthy their names. Abigail went on to accuse Mary Warren of having her stabbed in the chest with a needle, as Warren had given Elizabeth Proctor a doll with a needle in its chest for safe-keeping. Warren later accused John Proctor of being a witch, ruining Abigail's plans, and John was eventually thrown in prison. Abigail asked for him to come with her to Barbados and live their life on the ocean, but John refused to go with her, and he refused to filthy his name after the judges asked for him to sign a confession that would be placed on the church door. Abigail stole 32 pounds from Reverend Parris' chest after her accusations of witchcraft against Reverend Hale's wife showed her mischief, and Abigail went to Boston, becoming a prostitute.